Janet was still chuckling as she did the washing-up. They had a dishwasher, but it wasn’t worth using for just a few breakfast dishes. With that chore out of the way, she wandered around the house, looking for something to do to fill the time before Edward arrived. It would have helped if she’d had some idea of how much time she needed to fill, but Edward had been vague.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can be,” he’d told her when they’d spoken last week. “Getting out of London is the tricky bit, of course, but once I’ve done that, I should make good time.”
Janet looked at the clock. It was only eight o’clock. Even if Edward had left London around six, there was no way he was going to arrive before ten, she reckoned. And Edward may not have left that early. Sighing deeply, Janet headed for the library. She’d spent months cleaning and reorganising her favourite room in the house, but lately she’d been thinking about rearranging things again.
Dropping into the house’s most comfortable chair, Janet put her hand up and pulled out the first book she touched. “It’s by you,” she told the kitten, who had followed her into the room. “Look, there’s your name, right on the cover.”
Aggie looked at the book for a moment and then yawned. She headed for the corner, where a small cat bed had been put for her use. Walking around it several times, Aggie finally settled in with her head on her front paws. After looking around the room for a moment, she seemed to sigh and then closed her eyes.
“I’ll read aloud to you, if you’d like,” Janet offered. “This is one of my favourites. You’ll never guess who the murderer is.” She began to read. As soon as she read out the name of one of the characters, Aggie sat up and began to meow loudly.
“Really?” Janet said. “You’re guessing he’s the killer?”
Aggie meowed loudly again and then put her head back down. Janet continued with the story, but every time that one character was mentioned, she was interrupted by her kitten. Joan wandered in about an hour later.
“I wondered what you were doing,” she said. “I could hear Aggie shouting from upstairs.”
“I’m reading to her,” Janet said. “And she gets very excited whenever she hears a particular name.”
“Really?” Joan asked.
“Listen,” Janet suggested. She read the next few paragraphs. Joan shook her head as Aggie shouted when the character came up.
“I’ve read that one,” Joan said. “He’s the killer, isn’t he?”
“Don’t spoil it for Aggie,” Janet cried. “We’re nowhere near the end yet.”
“It seems to me that Aggie already knows who the killer is,” Joan said.
“You may be right,” Janet said. “I wonder if she could do the same thing in real life.”
“Let’s hope we don’t ever have to find out,” Joan said. “I’d rather not have anyone murdered in Doveby Dale.”
“But maybe Aggie could work out other crimes as well,” Janet said. “I should have asked her who was trying to cheat my friends out of their money last month. She might have found the answer more quickly than Robert did.”
“Robert is very good at his job,” Joan said.
“Oh, I agree, but if Aggie can help, maybe she could make his job easier,” Janet said.
Robert Parsons was the young police constable in charge of policing both Doveby Dale and the neighbouring village of Little Burton. He visited the sisters frequently, both to keep an eye on them and also to enjoy the wide variety of baked goods that Joan made on a regular basis.
“I don’t think Robert is going to want advice from a cat,” Joan said.
“Merreww,” Aggie said, sounding hurt.
“She’s a very smart cat,” Janet said. “The next time something criminal happens in Doveby Dale, I’m going to ask her about it.”
“You do that, dear,” Joan said patronisingly. “Just don’t bother Robert with your answers.”
“We’ll see,” Janet replied.
She read to Aggie for another hour, but her mind kept wandering. After she’d read the same paragraph three times, she decided to stop.
“I’m bored,” she told Joan, who was in the kitchen baking a cake.
“Why don’t you go out to the carriage house and sort through a few boxes?” Joan suggested.
The carriage house behind Doveby House had been used for storage for years. It was full of boxes, none of them labeled in any way. The sisters had started going through them some time ago, but had been discouraged to find boxes full of books that needed sorted, and even worse, paperwork that needed to be gone through carefully. While Janet had found a teddy bear that she loved, that had been the only good thing to come out of the carriage house thus far.
“I’m not that bored,” Janet told Joan. Not only was the carriage house dusty and full of spiders, it also seemed to house a ghost who amused itself by switching off the light and shutting the door whenever there was anyone inside the building. Having been stuck there more than once, Janet wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.
“Go on, do one box,” Joan urged her. “By the time you come back, I’ll have lunch ready.”
Janet hesitated and then shrugged. Why not? “Aggie, do you want to come to the carriage house with me?” she asked the kitten.
“Yooow,” Aggie shouted before racing away.
Janet shrugged. “Clearly not.” She had taken Aggie into the carriage house once and the kitten had been thoroughly frightened by something out there. That didn’t make Janet any more eager to revisit the place.
“Stuart is in and out of there all the time,” Joan reminded her. “He never has a problem.”
Stuart Long, who lived on the other side of the semi-detached property across the street, was a retired gardener who looked after the extensive gardens around Doveby House for the sisters. They paid him a small sum and provided him with an endless supply of biscuits and cakes. He stored a great deal of his equipment in the carriage house. It was Stuart who had told Janet about the ghost who lived there, but he seemed to have found ways to work around the mischievous spirit.
“He said as long as you have the keys and a torch with you, the ghost will leave you alone,” Joan reminded her. “Besides, I think he’s out there now, getting things ready for spring. He won’t let you get locked in.”
Janet looked out the window and smiled. She could see Stuart clearing away leaves and other debris near the carriage house. Its door was wide open, and it almost looked inviting to her on the sunny morning.
“Okay, but if I’m not back in twenty minutes, send help,” Janet told her sister. “And if Edward arrives in the meantime, send him.”
Joan nodded. “Even if you only sort through one box, we’ll be a tiny bit closer to being able to use the carriage house for something.”
Janet thought about Joan’s words as she walked across the garden. As far as she knew, the only plan for the carriage house was to continue to use it for storage. Was Joan thinking about doing it up to provide additional space for guests? Janet frowned. She still wasn’t sure she wanted to run a bed and breakfast, no matter how much Joan was enjoying it. The thought of welcoming even more guests didn’t appeal at all.
“Janet, what brings you out here?” Stuart asked, interrupting her sour thoughts.
“I’m bored, so I’ve come out to look through some of the boxes in the carriage house,” Janet explained. “Maybe I can find something more exciting than piles of paperwork this time.”
“Good luck,” Stuart laughed. “I tripped over a box the other day and from what I could see it was nothing but paperwork.”
Janet had him show her which box he was talking about so that she could give it a wide berth. After a long look around the huge space that seemed even more full of boxes than she’d remembered, she took a deep breath and chose a box at random. She pulled it carefully off the top of its large pile and cautiously peeked inside.
At least it wasn’t papers, she thought as she looked inside the box. It was full of things wrapped in packing
paper. She unwrapped a couple of teacups, a handful of nondescript plates, and finally a metal bowl with a heart pattern around the edge.
“That’s pretty,” Stuart said from the doorway.
“It is, isn’t it?” Janet replied. “I might put it in my room and fill it with something, although I’m not sure what.”
“The rest of that isn’t very interesting,” Stuart added as he looked over the things that Janet had unwrapped. “It’s probably the leftovers from someone’s car boot sale.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Janet said. “I wonder if that’s what we’ll find in most of these boxes.”
“A lot of them have been here since before Maggie Appleton had the house,” Stuart told her. “Goodness only knows what you’ll find.”
Stuart’s words tempted her to keep looking, but first she needed to find a home for this box of items. She rewrapped everything and carried it into the kitchen.
“Anything exciting?” Joan asked.
“One pretty metal bowl,” Janet replied. “The rest is just plates and cups and things. I doubt any of it has any value at all.”
“We can always use a few more teacups,” Joan told her as she unpacked the box. “Our guests aren’t always careful with things, you know.”
Janet did know. While there hadn’t been too many issues thus far, guests had already broken three teacups and two glasses in the months they’d been open.
“This is lovely,” Joan said when she pulled out the gold-coloured bowl. “I wonder if we could put flowers in it?”
“I don’t think we want to get it wet,” Janet said. “I was thinking it might look nice in my room.”
“Yes, well, nearly everything we’ve found thus far has gone in your room,” Joan pointed out. “Maybe this should go in my room.”
Janet bit her tongue. She wanted to point out that Joan hadn’t liked the piggy bank or the teddy bear so she’d been happy to let Janet have them, but she didn’t want to start an argument.
“We can work it out later,” Joan said eventually. “For now, I’ll just put it away in a cupboard.”
Janet nodded. “Maybe I’ll go out and pick another box to go through,” she said. “That one wasn’t too bad.”
A loud knock on the front door stopped her before she’d left the kitchen. Janet looked at Joan. “I feel sick,” she whispered.
“Don’t be silly,” Joan snapped at her. “He’s just a person, and a rather rude person at that. Now he’s arrived just in time for lunch and I wasn’t planning on having to feed him.”
Janet smiled as she followed her sister into the sitting room. Joan was being grumpy for her sake, and she was grateful. Joan never cooked a meal without planning for at least one extra person. That was why she loved having the bed and breakfast so much. Cooking for others made her happy.
“Joan, Janet, it’s lovely to see you both again,” Edward said when Joan opened the door. He pulled his suitcases into the room as Janet studied him.
He wasn’t terribly tall, maybe five feet seven, but he was fit and trim. His grey hair looked as if it had been cut recently and his light grey eyes twinkled at her as their eyes met. He was casually dressed in a light jumper over grey trousers that looked both smart and comfortable. Janet took a step closer and then held out her hand.
Edward looked at it and then laughed. “I think as an old friend, I should get a hug,” he said, closing the small distance between them.
Janet felt a rush of emotions as the man pulled her close. She knew her face was turning bright red and she could feel her heart racing.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered in her ear before he let her go.
“We weren’t sure what time to expect you,” Joan said. “But I’ve made plenty of lunch if you’d care to join us.”
“I was planning on being here sooner,” Edward said. “But I was held up on the outskirts of Doveby Dale.”
“Really? Why?” Joan asked.
“There was a fire at the local supermarket,” Edward replied.
Chapter Three
“A fire?” Joan repeated. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you everything I know over lunch,” Edward said. “But I’d rather put my bags in my room and freshen up first, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not,” Joan said. “Janet can show you to your room while I put the finishing touches on lunch. It will be ready whenever you are.”
“Excellent,” Edward said. He turned to Janet. “I’ll follow you, shall I?”
Janet blinked several times and then nodded. Aggie dashed across the room to stare at the new arrival.
“Ah, so this is Aggie,” Edward said. As he bent down towards her, Aggie narrowed her eyes and then shook her head. Before anyone could speak, she raced away again, this time up the stairs. “Perhaps she doesn’t like me,” Edward said.
“She likes everyone,” Janet told him. “She just has to get to know you first.” As she led Edward up the stairs, she gave herself a stern talking-to. At her age she was far too old to be behaving like a schoolgirl with a crush, she reminded herself. Edward was a great deal more worldly than she was, but that didn’t mean she had to go all tongue-tied and stupid when he spoke to her.
“We’ve put you in the same room as last time,” Janet said when they reach the landing. She unlocked the door and then handed Edward the key. “We’ll see you downstairs when you’re ready.”
Edward put his hand on her arm to stop her from leaving. “I’m really glad I was finally able to get back here,” he told her. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot. I hope we’ll be able to spend some time together while I’m here.”
“I’d like that,” Janet told him. “But I do have help with the bed and breakfast sometimes as well.”
“Maybe I could help,” Edward offered. “But we can talk about that over lunch, as well.” He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before turning and walking into his room. Janet had to force herself to walk slowly and steadily back down the corridor and down the stairs when she felt more like bouncing or skipping.
“Is everything okay with the room?” Joan asked when Janet walked into the kitchen.
“I think so,” Janet said. “You can ask him when he comes down.”
“You didn’t ask him, did you?”
“I forgot,” Janet admitted. “But it’s the same room he stayed in last time, and we haven’t changed anything aside from adding the painting that William Chalmers did for us. What could possibly be wrong with the room?”
“You should still ask,” Joan told her. “We want to make sure our guests are happy.”
As far as Janet was concerned, Edward wasn’t a proper guest anyway. She hoped that he’d really come to see her, rather than because he’d fancied a holiday in Derbyshire. Time would tell, she thought.
When Edward came down a few minutes later, he was quick to reassure Joan that all was well. “The room is exactly as I remembered it,” he said. “Except for the addition of the lovely painting. It certainly makes the room more attractive. Where did you get it?”
“It’s one of the ones William Chalmers did for us,” Janet told him. Edward knew all about the man who had come to Doveby Dale to open an antique shop. While the sisters had initially disliked him, over time they’d warmed to his somewhat difficult personality. William had also made more of an effort to be friendly, especially towards Janet, something she didn’t want to think about while Edward was there.
“Ah, I remember you telling me that he was an amateur artist,” Edward said. “He’s better than I expected, actually.”
“He’s better than he thinks he is,” Joan said. “Which is odd, because he’s rather overconfident in other areas.”
“Clearly painting matters to him,” Edward replied. “I wonder if he’d be interested in a commission.”
“You’d have to ask him. You should do it soon. While he has Paul here for the rest of the month, he has more time to paint. Once Paul goes back to London, h
e’ll have to work in the shop all the time again.”
“I’ll have to go and see him tomorrow,” Edward said.
“What did you want him to paint for you?” Janet had to ask.
“My sister loved her stay here with you,” he replied. “I thought she might like a painting of some of the lovely scenery from around here. It would brighten up her London flat.”
“We enjoyed having her,” Joan said as she filled plates with beef stew.
“I’m glad,” Edward said.
Janet made tea for everyone as Joan added bread and butter to the table before they all sat down.
“But what’s happened at the supermarket?” Janet asked after her first bite.
“From what I could tell, it appears that something in the back storage area caught fire,” Edward said. “It must have happened during the night. It looked as if the storage area was nearly completely destroyed, although the front of the shop didn’t seem too badly damaged. Well, by the fire anyway. There seemed to be a great deal of water damage to the shop.”
“My goodness, what will happen to all the food? And the staff?” Janet asked.
“I suspect most of the food was ruined,” Edward said. “I’m sure they will salvage what they can, but between fire and water, I’m not sure there will be much that will still be able to be sold. As for the staff, hopefully the owner will rebuild, but I’m not sure what they’ll do for work in the meantime.”
“And we’ll have to drive over to the big supermarket near Derby whenever we need anything,” Joan said. “Everything is less expensive there, but it isn’t really convenient.”
“Maybe someone will open another shop to take the place of the one that burned down,” Janet suggested. “Or maybe they’ll find a temporary location. They could do that, couldn’t they?”
“I suppose so,” Joan said. “But they’d need lots of freezers and refrigerators for all the perishables. They can’t just open up anywhere.”
Janet sighed. She could see a lot of long drives to the large supermarket in her future. Joan was always busy cooking, cleaning, and looking after their guests. Most of the shopping ended up being Janet’s responsibility. She hadn’t minded odd trips to the nearby shop, but trips to the larger one were another matter.
The Hampton Case (A Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery Novella Book 8) Page 2